A few things that made my 2025 interesting..

Kigali, Rwanda by night!

2025 is my best year so far, followed by 2024, 2023, 2019, and 2017. 2025 had some resemblance to 2024: two academic semesters, with a "mostly jobless" summer vacation in between! The year started with the fear that the Mt Spurr volcano would erupt. Luckily, it never did! This post lists 30 things that made my 2025 interesting.

1. New Year 2025 in Shenzhen, China.

Family time and busy streets.

2. Smoggy and windy Los Angeles, CA.

Although the wildfire with its smog was not fun, the winds and the dark sky were interesting in a scary way. 

Hilly Kigali!

3. Coffee in the mornings in Bangkok, Thailand.

The interesting drinks and ending the year in style with family. 

4. Experiencing the first real earthquake.

It was 6.0 and felt strong in our home in Anchorage, with things moving and books falling down the shelves. Luckily, the center was still a few tens of miles from Anchorage. So it was not a disaster.

5. Northern Lights at Clearly Summit, Fairbanks, AK. 

While I have seen northern lights before in Anchorage and Utqiagvik, this one was stronger and clearer in the darker location.

6. CONTROL-CORE-2 CLUSTER journal paper.

This was my last paper produced during my postdoc era. Nice to see it getting published, finally.

7. Two IEEE Computer Magazine papers.

Both are products of my collaboration with the Department of Alaska Native Studies.

Harrison's Cave, Barbados

8. Making friends at a community event in Kigali, Rwanda.

This time for Africa! Now I have visited 6 continents. Only Antarctica is pending! 

9. Walking the hills of Kigali, Rwanda.

It was up and down, and Kigali looks peaceful at night, with lights that look like stars in the adjacent hills.  

10. A long hike in the Foreshore Trail around UBC.

Muddy trail and mudflats of Vancouver, BC, Canada. The stay at UBC for the IEEE CCECE 2025 conference. The university town is peaceful and calm.

11. San Antonio River cruise and dining by the river at night.

Beautiful restaurants of Kigali

It was a productive workshop by NHERI. 

12. Trying diverse cuisines in New York City.

Got to love the diversity of food in the US.

13. Waves of Christ Church, Barbados.

The beachfront hotel let us go to the beach several times.

14. Atlantis Submarine in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The colors disappear, and everything gets blue as we go deep underwater.

Deep into the Ocean, Barbados

15. Bear sighting at Campbell Park, Anchorage.

A momma bear and her two cubs. Anchorage reminds us every now and then that we live with wildlife.  

16. New Research collaborations.

Including Stellenbosch University in South Africa and Cooper Union in NYC.

17. Fall 2025 semester. Teaching three courses.

One of the three was a new course for me. A full load. I survived.

18. MATLAB Educator Workshop at Carleton University.

Busy days in Northfield, MN, followed by a long walk in Mall of America.

19. Music of 2025.

View from the submarine, Barbados

What is a year without some new good music!

20. Harrison's Cave Eco-Adventure Park in Barbados.  

Exploring the caves in an underground tram!

21. Atlanta once more!

Visited both Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market. Interestingly, not too strong memories from the past. 

22. IEEE IPCCC 2025 at Hotel Viata in West Lake Hills, TX.

and some random walks in downtown Austin.

23.  Temples and statues of Hindu Gods in Bangkok. 

Mariamman, Brahma, and Indra. 

24. Croatia EQUISYS project until September 30th, 2029.

This project collaboration of four summers. I am looking forward to it in 2026. 

Malls of Bangkok, Thailand

25. Snowy mountains of Juneau, AK.

Juneau has the mountains much closer to the town than Anchorage! Makes it feel more beautiful and wild than Anchorage.

26. A night in Singapore.

Family reunion, which was supposed to be the moment in 2020 February. Pandemic memories. We have come a full circle.

27. New Year's Eve, crowds, and celebrating 2026 in Bangkok.

Siam Center and Em Quartier malls, celebrating the new year. The malls of Bangkok are so inviting.

28. Museums of Seattle, WA.

Northern lights in Fairbanks, AK.

Although Seattle is not new to us, this time we had a long time to explore it well.

29. A long multi-part trip that started with Tacoma, WA.

Night walks in Tacoma. The beautiful view of the Puget Sound from the hotel window. One of those magical moments. Perfect wrap to the year. 

30. The Amsterdam Airport!

It felt nice to be in Europe, even though it was just a layover in the air side. The last time I was in Europe was 2019 December when I visited Istanbul (and 2020 January in the LHR airport, air side). It reminded me it is long overdue to visit Europe, and also perhaps time to visit Portugal again sometime. I have not been in Portugal since 2019 July.

Every year, I have only one new year's resolution - to outperform my previous years. :) 2026 appears exciting with interesting events already planned. I wish you a happy new year. Thanks for reading my list until the end. You may read the blog posts of all the previous years as well.